Parallels
by Captain Erika
Summary: AU Welcome to the universes that will never be. Fics inspired by the Myriad Universes anthologies. Chapter 1: Eternal - Archer captains the ECS Eternal and meets Hernandez for the first time. Chapter 2: The last stand of the Republic.
1. Eternal

**Parallels**

A/N: Inspired by the Myriad Universes series of books, this is a "what if" series revolving around Erika Hernandez. I'll post one every few weeks or so, depending on whether or not I run out of ideas to use.

Planned universes (not in any order):

Eternal - Archer joins ECS instead of Starfleet (mentioned in "Horizon").

Heirs - Columbia gets sent back into time instead of the Enterprise (retelling of "E^2", based on Mike Sussman's original pitch)

Last Cigarette - "Twilight" universe

Reign - Mirror Universe (and why she wasn't in the ENT MU episodes)

**Welcome to the universes that will never be.**

A/N: Inspired by the episode "Horizon" where Archer mentions considering joining the ECS instead of Starfleet. A.G. becomes the Enterprise's CO (everybody else stays the same), A.G. instead dates Erika (and still has a relationship with her) and Jonathan Archer is the captain of the ECS Eternal.

**One: Eternal (if Jonathan Archer had joined the ECS instead of Starfleet)**

_Set in 2151_

_A.G. Robinson smiled on the monitor. "It's nice to see your happy face, Erika. How's life on the _Republic_?"_

I laughed. It was hard getting the time to talk to A.G. I had to _bribe_ the comm officer for usage of the subspace channels late at night. Captain Jennings didn't mind, as long as it was only once a week. Everybody knew that A.G. and I were the hot topic in Starfleet. "It's pretty good. When I get off this ship, I'm going to try to get Chef to move to whatever ship I'm on. How's the flagship?" I bit into my chocolate bar with gusto.

"Wonderful. We just finished our first mission." The one to return the Klingon to his homeworld. "Now we're off to explore the far reaches of space." He waved a hand. "To go where no man has gone before."

I nodded, swallowing the bite of chocolate I took. "I wish I could be there. But…" Being there would've probably affected his judgment. I put the chocolate bar down, put two fingers to my lips, then put those fingers on the monitor. He did the same. Kissing across subspace. He looked sadly at me.

"I know, Erika. When I get some time off…I'll come and pick you up from the _Republic_ so that we can spend some time together, alright?"

I nodded, and as soon as I opened my mouth, the connection cut off. "A.G.?"

The comm buzzed. "Commander Hernandez, report to the bridge." I hit the button, acknowledged it, then stood up, running past crewmen and entered the bridge, standing behind Captain Jennings. He looked at me and mouthed "distress call", then turned his attention to the viewscreen.

"Hail the _Eternal_."

A face came on screen, one that I knew in passing. Jonathan Archer, the son of the famed Henry Archer.

"This is Captain Jonathan Archer of the ECS Eternal. Thanks for responding to our distress call."

"Captain Peter Jennings of the starship _Republic_. This young lady here is Commander Erika Hernandez, my XO." I inclined my head as acknowledgement. "We're happy to assist with your repairs."

****************

I was assigned to help Captain Archer out with the repairs to the weapons systems. The place was more cramped than what was on the _Republic_. "How do you bear with these conditions?" I asked, laying down beside him and looking at the circuits. I noticed that he had his shirt off. His body was finely toned from years of working on the cargo ships. I started staring at it.

He looked at me, hyperspanner in his teeth, hands full of wires. I quickly looked away. He spat out the hyperspanner away from me. "You get used to it."

I nodded, trying not to stare at his chest.

He rewired the wires in his hand. "So, how's Starfleet? I heard that they launched a NX-class ship with my father's engine in it."

"That they did. The _Enterprise_. Beautiful ship." I smiled. Inwardly, I was surprised that these guys knew things like that.

"Hopefully she has a good engineer too. The captain may be shit but if the engineer is good, she'll be amazing in space." He grinned.

I frowned. A.G. wasn't shit. He was a capable officer. Quick to anger sometimes but a good officer. The engineer was wonderful – Charles Tucker the Third, aka Trip. An engineering genius, in my opinion. I took my hyperspanner and worked on the circuits in front of me, trying to align them. "The ship can't run without a good captain."

He looked at me. "Spoken like a true Starfleet officer, eh? So, why did you join Starfleet?"

I looked at him. "I wanted to explore the stars. Make a difference for Earth. What about you? Why did you join the ECS?"

He sighed, and went back to fixing the system. "Same. Except I was impatient. I didn't want to wait for the government to sign the Starfleet charter. I wanted to make my mark in space…so I chose the ECS. It was the quickest way for me to get into space."

I looked up at the wires, and touched his arm to stop him. "You messed up one." I pointed at one wire. "It's supposed to go here." I took the wire and put it in its right spot.

He looked at me. "Have you ever considered joining the Earth Cargo Authority?"

I looked at him. "To be honest? No."

He chuckled, and climbed out of the small space, then held out a hand. I grasped it and helped myself up. "You should. We could use people like you. I haven't seen that good of a job since Henderson left."

I blushed. "Thanks," I mumbled quietly. "I best get going." I removed my hand from his, but he took it back again.

"If you're not busy…I'd like to enjoy dinner with you." He smiled.

I blushed even more furiously. "Uh…sure." _Damnit, Erika, why did you say yes? It's a date, and you know that! You have a boyfriend already!_

"Alright then! It's settled. Mess hall in an hour." He looked at himself, then at me. "We're both dirty."

I quickly composed myself and nodded. "Yeah. Alright."

****************

"It's not the best stuff to eat, but it's pretty good." He smiled as put a tray down of food. I looked at it. Smoked salmon with vegetables.

"They kinda look like Starfleet emergency rations," I replied, taking the fork and poking at it.

Archer chuckled. "Well, the ECA and Starfleet rations are the same. I would cook something for you but power hasn't been restored fully."

I heard a bark and looked down. A beagle stared up at me, and cocked its head at my quizzical look.

"Porthos!" Archer whistled, and held out a piece of cheese. Porthos bounded over to his side and took it with gusto. "I'm sorry. He gets excited when there are visitors on the Eternal." He scratched behind Porthos's ears then looked at me. "Something wrong?"

I shook my head and started eating. "No, nothing's wrong, Captain Archer."

"Please. Call me Jonathan."

I was taken aback by this, and then quietly said, "Erika."

He paused. "Don't be so nervous around me. I'm not your superior officer."

I put my fork down. "You have that air around you, though. Maybe you should enlist in Starfleet."

"And be some Ensign to a young captain? Na. I'll take my chances running the Deneva-Earth route, thank you very much." He dug into his salmon. "Not bad. You guys always had the best scientists on Earth."

"And chefs." I grinned.

He grinned back.

****************

The Eternal was up again, after more tinkering around. Jonathan had a nice dinner in the Captain's mess with the Captain and me right after we were done. His stories about his travels were just as colorful as the shirt he was wearing.

"I'm sorry, Commander Hernandez, but we'll have to leave if we're going to make it to Earth on time. And you know how the ECA is a stickler on time."

I nodded. "I know. Late and you lose your license."

He chuckled. "Hopefully not. It's the only way I'm making a living at this point." He smiled. "Nice meeting you, Erika."

And then he leaned over and kissed my lips softly. After what was a long moment, he straightened up and looked me in the eye like nothing happened. "Maybe when I get some time off to myself I'll come pick you up for a _real_ date."

I blushed furiously at that. He gave me an amused look when I looked away. The words resonated in my head, and I realized that just only a few days ago, A.G. Robinson promised the same thing to me.

He gave me a wave, then went back to the Eternal. Captain Jennings looked at me. "You best be careful, Erika." He clapped a hand on my shoulder, then turned around. I quickly followed him, my face still burning red from that kiss.

Hopefully their shore leaves didn't coincide with each other. I had a feeling that they weren't going to like each other very much.


	2. Last Cigarette

**Two: Last Cigarette ("Twilight" universe)**

_Set in 2153_

A/N: Based on the famous (and very good) episode "Twilight", in the universe where Archer's parasites were _not _cured. Erika's on the _Republic_, and they're defending Deneva from the Xindi. Oh, and I'm not religious, but Erika is, I think (based on her characterization in the novels). Enjoy!

It is the longest breath that I've held in my life. There was that one time where Archer had pushed me underwater playfully and held me there. Said it would help my lungs. All it did was make my body burn.

Everybody on the bridge is scared, even if their faces don't say so. They know what's going to probably happen. There was no way that the _Republic_ was going to get out of this alive.

The Xindi had already destroyed Earth, Luna, Alpha Centuri, Vega. And now Deneva was next on their long list. The universe had abandoned Earth and humanity to its fate. A cruel end to what was left of humanity.

"The advance fleet reports the Xindi are within 20,000 kilometers of Deneva," the Ensign at the comm reports in a clear voice. The bridge is silent as she says the words that will lead to our impending death.

Captain Jennings keeps a straight face. He needs to – he's the CO after all – but I know deep inside that he's scared. His hands are gripping the arms of the chair so tightly that in any moment, they'll break. His eyes are steely gray as they stare at the viewscreen, at the approaching Xindi, at our impending doom.

He leans back into his chair, and digs into his uniform pockets. He keeps various trinkets and things inside them, but the thing he pulls out reminds me of my father.

"Sir?" I ask. "Are those…"

"Marlboros." He opens the box of cigarettes up. "My father used to smoke them before they were forced out of business. He died before his supply ran out." He takes a cigarette out from the box, hands shaking, and puts it to his lips. "Guys, come here if you want one."

I take one, the only other person to do so. He takes out a lighter and lights his, then lights my cigarette as well. "It was an old Earth tradition to smoke a cigarette before you die. We might as well honor that tradition." He takes a puff, like an expert. I take a puff and cough a little. It burns my lungs, but I take another puff. It didn't matter anyway, we were about to die.

Jennings then stands up, and looks at each of us with steely resolve, knowing full well that it wouldn't help any of us face what was next. "It was an honor serving with you all."

I nod when he looks at me, cigarette still in my mouth. The ashes slowly fall to the deck, littering my shoes. I take another puff.

"Sir! The Xindi have started firing! Five…no, six ships have been destroyed. Sir…they're targeting us."

Jennings nods. The last cigarettes have been given out. The hour of our destiny has come.

I let go of my breath.


End file.
